This invention relates generally to electrical connectors and, more particularly, to electrical connectors of the type having a housing adapted to removably mount an electrical contact for mating with a complimentary contact. Such electrical connectors generally include one or more passageways into which contacts are inserted and thereafter removably retained by a variety of locking elements.
In recent years, a great variety of low cost electrical connectors have been developed, particularly for use in home appliances, wherein one-piece molded housings are employed to mount one or more electrical contacts. The connectors must be field servicable, and, therefore, the housings generally include means for releasably locking the contacts in place after termination to an appropriate conductor. Flexible latching means are conventionally utilized to engage a rear portion of the electrical contact after it is fully inserted into the housing.
One significant problem encountered with such prior art connectors is that the latching means are relatively thin and weak in order that they may provide the necessary flexure required during insertion of the electrical contact into the passageway. Thus, a rearward pullout force applied to a retained contact has the tendency to bend or break the latching means resulting in an undesirable or inadvertent removal of the electrical contact from the housing. Examples of typical prior art connectors relying exclusively upon thin flexible stop means are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,971,613 and 4,013,331.
Another difficulty encountered in the prior art connectors results from the configuration of the electrical contacts mounted therein. These contacts typically include a forward engagement section and a rearward termination section retaining a conductor in a crimp termination. This crimp termination bulges above the surface of the engagement section thereby interfering with the operation of the connector latching means and impairing the reliability of the contact retention within the connector housing.
Finally, prior art connector housings of the present type often have complex internal configurations which require side coring in molding. Side coring increases both tooling costs and material waste making such connectors unduly expensive and therefore impractical for many applications.